3 Customer Reviews
Review from Andrea J
2 stars10/29/2024
Echoing what others here have said. Ideal Credit Union states on their website, that their Free Checking Account provides access to "a nationwide surcharge-free* ATM Network." That little * leads to a sentence at the bottom of that page that reads "Ideal CU withdrawl charges may still apply". Given that I have been banking with Ideal since I was literally 7 years old and never had Ideal charge me an ATM fee, and I've always been able to use ATMs of other credit unions or fee-free ATMs without issue, we got slapped with a fee for using a free ATM. When we called, they told us that the Free Checking Account will always have fees unless it is an Ideal Credit Union ATM. So those charges that they said "MAY" apply, simply DO apply. Did you know there's also a fee for checking your balance? Because we certainly didn't. Never would have opted for this type of account if we had known this, and the website is deliberately misleading. Very seriously contemplating taking our business elsewhere.
Ideal Credit Union Response
10/30/2024
The legal definition of Free Checking is that the account doesn't charge a recurring fee, such as a monthly maintenance fee, and the account doesn't have a minimum balance requirement to avoid a fee. Per the ************************************ (CFPB) "A "free" account may still have certain fees such as *** fees, overdraft fees, bounced check fees, balance inquiry fees, fees to stop payments on a check, fees on a dormant account ,or check printing fees." *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Ideal's accounts are reviewed and approved by outside Regulatory Compliance Experts on an annual basis. Marketing is reviewed and approved for regulatory compliance prior to being sent to prospects and members and/or posting to website.
Specific to *** fees - there are two fees that can be charged for *** transactions. 1) There is a surcharge fee which is charged by the owner of the *** (not your financial) and there is also a withdrawal charge which is charged by the financial.
At Ideal Credit Union, both potential *** fees are identified and posted on the website and in brochures *********************************************************************************************************. As stated in the comparison chart online and in brochures, the Free Checking Account allows unlimited Free *** Transactions at Ideal Credit Union ***s. Any *** transactions conducted at an *** other than an Ideal *** will cost $3.50 per transaction. Transactions are defined in the brochure, the Service Fee Schedule and on the website as a Deposit, Withdrawal, Transfer and Balance Inquiry. The Free Checking Account, because its Free is a very bare bones account with minimal account benefits. If free *** transactions are important to you, I recommend you review the account comparison information and determine if a different account is a better fit for your needs.
The following information is posted on the website and printed in the brochure and the service fee schedule - this is a copy and paste from the website: 4. Does not include other *** Owner Fees i.e. surcharge fees. Transactions include cash withdrawals, deposits, transfers, and balance inquiries. For example, if a member requests a balance inquiry prior to a cash withdrawal, the balance inquiry and cash withdrawal count as two transactions.
Ideal Credit Union Response
10/30/2024
Please note - what is outlined above occurred in January and we refunded this person's fees at that time and helped them select another account to help avoid these fees in the future. When was this review submitted? If it was submitted in January - why are we just being asked to research and review it now?Review from Grace G
3 stars05/14/2024
For the most part I've been really happy with Ideal Credit. However, I recently learned one of my business contacts was able to continue charging my card two years past it's expiration date. While I am still working with the aforementioned business, one of the purpose of card expiration date is to help verify the cardholder's identity and protects against fraudulent purchases, so Ideal may want to examine this control and why it failed.Ideal Credit Union Response
05/23/2024
***** - thank you for your feedback. We will investigate your concern and for privacy purposes, we will follow up with you directly. Thank you, Ideal Credit UnionReview from Aaron C
1 star03/01/2023
This bank is nothing but fees until they wipe out your accounts.They were slowly draining our savings, told us that if we opened a checking account that would stop the fees. It did for a bout a month. A year later and a lot of magical fees later the savings was emptied and has a negative value rather than just killed by them.I'm taking everything out of our checking and will never work with them again.Ideal Credit Union Response
03/07/2023
We are sorry that your were unhappy with the service and with your accounts. If you would like to discuss further please contact us at ************.Customer Response
03/10/2023
I asked to close my accounts. Haven't heard back yet. I'm going to empty them to another bank that doesn't lie about fees.
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